This show as well as the previous one 2 nights earlier at the Avalon in Boston were undoubtedly the best of the year I attended musically, although there were shows in April while not as technically as good, were MONSTER PARTIES. Something about that spring tour especially starting around the 11th in Utica? or Ithaca? I forget through the midwest shows in Madison & Chicago...where we ejected the tour. It might be very cringe to say,lol, but the drugs were too good. We were absolute animals back then. While of course the Classical set, the 2 Funk Box shows in BMore as well as Boulder in July are all supreme, this one takes the cake and the girl hiding inside.
The Webster is such a cool spot for me and my mates after all of those Max Creek shows and other bands, I just loved it!
I think you guys pretty much spoke of the musical highlights perfectly here in the comments so I won't rehash it..haha..hash.
Suddenly we have a vacuum.
peace.

*Inverted

The quality of this recording is above average. It's not terrible but there's a little too much bass, as is the norm with the FTK3 shows.

Plan B - There's no real jam here, just the usual Rock God Barber stuff.

Lai - This is how Lai jams should start out. Great back and forth between Barber and Magner with Brownstein and Sammy making a nice pocket for them to expand upon. They don't go anywhere overly awesome, but this a nice little jam that isn't extremely boring, which is more than I can say for a lot of 2003 versions of Lai.

Ladies > Floodlights > Ladies - I love the jam out of Ladies. Magner is playing a really cool arpeggiator that sounds kinda like an 8-bit patch, and the pocket the band is locked into is just great. This is a really high energy jam and there is some great playing from Brownstein and Magner especially. Sammy sounds much more interested in his playing than he is for the better part of November '03. A few minutes before the switch they drop to a half-time dub jam and Magner is playing some crazy stuff. Brownstein keeps saying "I had to run for my life" in the middle of a really dark, creepy jam, which fits perfectly. The jam out of Floodlights is pretty good. Barber does a great job of controlling the progression for a little while, which he doesn't normally do. Around about the 8 minute mark they switch into a house/trance jam and head back toward Ladies. The stuff they're doing at the 10 minute mark is great. Barber has a solid riff and Magner is doing some GREAT texturing with a bells patch. I really like this portion of the jam a lot. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but Brownstein is playing (note for note at one point) the lead line to "The Triple Wide" by Umphrey's McGee. The communication between Brownstein and Sammy during this whole jam is awesome, and really the whole jam is just awesome. The peak here is really really cool and unbelievably well done.

Shelby - 24:22 standalone Shelby? Awesome. Granted, the first minute is the band playing the end of Ladies and the beginning of Shelby and it feels like that will never end during that whole minute, but you sort of get used to those feelings with this band. The jam starts around 5:30 or so, and I really like the playing right out of the gate. It almost feels a bit like a fusion band playing DNB for a spell, and I like the sound a lot. The playing gets pretty out there at points, and around the 13 minute mark there's just a mass of swirling psychedelia led by Brownstein's monotonous (in a good way) bassline. The band continues playing like a fusion band on a bad acid trip, especially Mr. Magner. Normally I would hate this type of jam, but they actually seem to pull this one off pretty well so I'm alright with it. The band eventually seems to remember all at once that they need to end Shelby, and they hit upon a really great theme. This is all very well played, and the peak is nailed by Barber. When this band is on like this, it's glorious.

CWB - There's a really really peaceful and pretty jam in this version of CWB, though like all CWB jams, it doesn't last nearly long enough. It actually sounds for a little bit that the band is going to go into Spectacle, but no such luck.

3 Wishes - Standard.

Confrontation - Brownstein starts this jam with the synth effect on his bass. This is a solid trance jam, but nothing more than that. Not bad, not spectacular.

Classic accidental Caterpillar button around :15 of the Crowd/Banter track. There's also the announcement of NYE opening acts and the release of TFRB4.

Spraypaint - Standard.

42 > Sound One > Ah Moshi Moshi > 42 - As usual, skip to about the 7 minute mark so you don't have to hear the neverending composition of 42. The jam here starts out with Magner on angel choir, which is always fine with me. Magner starts playing a lead patch which sounds so awesome it hurts. It's only fitting, I suppose, that after announcing that the New Deal would be opening for them on NYE that the band then goes out and plays a New Dealesque jam. This seriously sounds like TND, in a very good way. The jam out of Sound One is the type of jam that would be a lot of fun to hear live, but not all that impressive on re-listen. This is a fist-pumper, but not much else, and there's never really a theme built. The Ah Moshi Moshi jam has some really cool themes littered here and there, but I still would love to see what Magner could do with Ableton and some loops being made. At one point he basically plays the end of Morph by himself. Barber and Brownstein come back into this jam far before the end of the tracking of the Ah Moshi Moshi jam, but it's still very much Magner led. They wind up in some very dark territory that I like a lot.

Caterpillar - Usual Caterpillar stuff. Magner never unpresses the Caterpillar button, Brownstein keeps playing Caterpillar the entire jam, and Barber struggles to improv while boxed in on all sides.

That's All Right Mama - It was apparently unknown for quite a while what this was. Not anymore, I guess. Whatever.

Hope - Standard.

5 stars. There's a tiny bit of filler but even those jams are well-played and solid. A well-played CWB Opera and some great jams here and there are enough to warrant your attention. Standouts: Ladies > Floodlights > Ladies, Shelby, CWB, 42, Ah Moshi Moshi!

My vote for Best Show of the 03'. The Chemical Warfare Brigade rock opera in Set 1 was the best I ever heard them play it, and the longest. Highlights were the jam out of "And the Ladies", Little Lai, and Confrontation. Then, that brings me to the second set. Damn! After SetI, I didn't think it could get any better. It did! A tight Spraypaint(yes, I do like this song people), and an AMAZING 42 Sandwich, complete with a heavy, hardcore dance-hall trance vibe, a Sound One, and a Moshi Moshi in the middle. Then the dankest Catepillar yet. This song has a big future. All in all, I don't think anything from 2003 beats it, although some would argue that the second night does. My advice, GET BOTH NIGHTS! Oh, and a huge shout out to Rich Steele for his remastered copies. I thought, honestly, that these were beyond repair. They are now listenable.

yea io also was at this show, it was insane, off the hook, best bisco show ever. everyone seems to forget about how sick the shelby is at this show, the most transition ever. it was about 24 minutes long i think, which is nutty for a shelby rose, made it spectacular. as for second set, the moshi moshi jam was a sick treat :-)

This show rocks with a great CWB opera. Before the remaster, it sounded bad, but now it sounds pretty good. But to the guy who said these may be the best sounding non-sbd recording he has, check out Haymaker 10/4-10/5/02 or Mishawaka 7/26-7/27/02, or TranceMission 8/15-8/16/03, and that's just Biscuits. For absolutely incredible non-sbds, check out the SKB archives for some great on-stage mic recordings.

I was at this show and it was great to download it to relive it. The first disc might only contain two songs, but they are gems: Plan B, Little Lai.
The whole CWB is great and builds up to a real good Confrontation.
The second set is enjoyable, especially since the relatively new song Caterpillar is played. Plus the 42 is great, as always. Hope is a good way to cap it all off.
Sound: 8/10
Quality: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10

This is a fantastic show. In my opinon the best show of there three show Thanksgiving run. The first set is a soild performance of one of the bands opera's The Chemical Warfare Brigade. Then the second set is a hot sweaty dance your booty off set. You should grab this show!!